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Awkaŋu
=General Information= Awkaŋu is a noun language, i.e. there are basically neither verbs nor adjectives. The sentence structure can be described as SOV (subject object verb) where the verb part is really just a noun. Only its position in the sentence indicates that the action of the word is meant e.g. the word "eating" in the verb position would be understood as the action of eating i.e. "to eat". Awkaŋu is an isolating language without any exceptions. Once the basic rules of grammar are understood, the learner can start speaking immediately because everything is logical and thus sentences can be made up on the fly. There is no word for "to be". Also, in Awkaŋu all words that are obvious from the context can be omitted. This is especially true for an established topic or agent/client. By inferring many words the sentences can become quite short without losing their meaning. However, context is very important to make a conversation possible. There are no prepositions but almost all particles are postpositions. There is no grammatical gender. =The Alphabet= Keep in mind, that this is the romanization of the Awkaŋu script. Vowels * a = a * u = u * i = i * o = ɔ * e = ɛ * w = w Diphthongs * ey = ɛi * ai = aɪ̯] * ou = oʊ̯] Consonants * n = n * ŋ = ŋ * m = m * b = b * l = l * d = d * t = t * f = f * s = s * sh = ʃ / ʒ before d * g = g * k = k * h = h * r = ɺ =Verb Position= In Awkaŋu there is no distinction between nouns and verbs (verbs are seen as nouns, too). To solve this issue, Awkaŋu makes use of the so-called verb position. As mentioned above, the sentence order is Subject-Object-Verb, all parts being nouns. So actually it is: Every sentence follows that rule (exception: see Inversion). The verb postion is that part of a sentence, which usually comes last and has no case particle attached to it. Nouns in the verb position are understood as the action corresponding to that noun. On the other hand, every noun that is not in the verb position is understood as the noun and never as the action. =The Cases= There is a total of 27 cases in Awkaŋu. All cases are built by using particles that follow the respective part of the sentence. The particle bu is only used, when an action takes place. If the agent does not "do" anything, then sa is used instead. For examples of the use of each case particle look at the example sentences section. =Mood= Awkaŋu is based on subjectivism. Every sentence is seen as a subjective opinion or description of the environment. It is agreed upon that there are no objective truths apart from those that are defined in the believe system of the Awkaŋus. These things have an influence on the grammar. The mood particles always come last in a sentence. The particle shiaiga for the objective mood is used to express universal truths. Because a sentence is always expressing a personal opinion, formulations such as "I find" or "to like" are not used. Pronunciation of m''' The particle '''m is pronounced m. If the m''' comes right after a consonant, it is pronounced am. =Tense= There are three tenses in Awkaŋu. The respective tense particles are always added at the end of the verb position, but always before the mood particle. Tense is only applied, if an actual (physical) action happens. Thus, not every sentence comes with a tense. Present Tense For the present tense, there is no modification. No tense particle in the verb position means that the tense is present tense. Example: * Lou bu kula. (I eat) Lou bu kula. I ERG eat 'I eat.' Past Tense The past tense particle is '''mi. Abbreviation: PAST Example: * Lou bu kula mi. (I ate) Lou bu kula mi. I ERG eat PAST 'I ate.' Future Tense The future tense particle is lia. Abbreviation: FUT Example: * Lou bu kula lia. (I will eat) Lou bu kula lia. I ERG eat FUT 'I will eat.' =Number= In Awkaŋu there is no distinction between singular and plural. A noun is usually treated as the plural, depending on the context. For expressing a definite number of a noun, numbers are used. There are no other numbers in Awkaŋu except the rough equivalent of 'thousand' or 'a whole lot', represented by mesha. Examples: * I ate two slices of bread. Lou bu ewi tam sa kula mi. Lou bu ewi tam sa kula mi. I c.ERG two bread c.OBJ eat PAST 'I ate two slices of bread.' * Why didn't you take four flowers? Nui kawa dulin bosiwi sa ti diwa no. Nui kawa dulin bosiwi sa ti diwa no. What c.FUNC four flower c.OBJ not take QUE 'Why didn't you take four flowers?' * She hit her brother three times. Wen bu saw kuka sa ewat na tili mi. Wen bu saw kuka sa ewat na tili mi. She c.ERG NULL c.GEN brother c.OBJ three c.QUAN hit PAST 'She hit her brother three times.' Counting For pure counting, a number system with base 5 is used. Examples should be best for explaining this. If something is multiplied by 1, the 1 is omitted. =Inversion= In Awkaŋu, inversion is done by switching verb and object. As the verb is then no longer in the verb position, it has to get the verb particle ja attached to it to still be a verb. Inversion is used, when the object is a more complex construction. Instead of the object, other parts can be inversed as well, though it is not usual to inverse with the subject. =Questions= Questions are made by adding the question particle no at the end of a sentence. By doing so, the sentence becomes a quesion. No further changes have to be made. Example * "Ley bu tam sa kula." becomes "Ley bu tam sa kula no." Note that there is no "?" in Awkaŋu. Instead, the no functions as that. As for intonation, there should be no difference between a statement and a question, i.e. the voice stays low in either case. Abbreviation: QUE =Inference= As mentioned in the introduction, inference plays an important role in Awkaŋu. By inferring, so many words are omitted and so much time is saved. Inference shall be explained through a few example sentences. Let's assume, John and Mary have an appointment. Mary is late, so when she arrives, John asks: * "Nui tai mi no." Nui tai mi no. What c.LOC PAST QUE 'Where have you been?' This means: "Where have you been?" As you may have noticed, there is no ley and no sa in that sentence. That is, because being entirely obvious from the context they are omitted. Without inference the sentence would be "Ley sa nui tai mi no.", which means exactly the same thing. Only the word for "you" is added. Another example: You call a friend and say "What are you doing?" * "Nui sa ama no." Nui sa ama no. What c.OBJ do QUE 'What are you doing?' Again the ley sa (you) is omitted, because everyone knows who you are referring to. In colloquial language the sa may be dopped as well as the no to produce the sentence "Nui ama" that still means "What are you doing?". Inference does not only work for questions though. You could say for instance: "Tam sa kula." ("I eat bread.") Here, the lou bu(I) is inferred. Null Morpheme In some cases of inference, it can happen that a case particle ends up isolated without any noun to refer to. Many times, having the case particle refer to nothing involves two case particles following each other. This can lead to ambiguity if context is unclear. In such a case, there is an invisible null morpheme in front of it. This doesn't effect the spoken language or the writing, but is useful for understanding some of the example sentences. The null morpheme is abbreviated as 'NULL' in the examples. =Feature Words= Feature words can be treated as adjectives. A feature is constructed by combining any group 1 word with any group 2 word. Examples: * "Tam sa maŋal gwola" means "The bread tastes good" or "The bread is of good taste". Tam sa maŋal gwola. Bread c.OBJ good taste 'The bread tastes good.' * "Maku sa bà ikat!" means "The tree is very high!". Maku sa bà ikat. Tree c.OBJ much height 'The tree is very high.' The group 3 words can be added arbitrarily at the beginning of any feature construction. They can also be used for any other word and even for nouns. Examples: * This is good enough. Kali sa bilà maŋal. Kali sa bilà maŋal. This c.OBJ enough good 'This is good enough.' * This house is too cold. Kali tesu sa kitsha àbu lum. Kali tesu sa kitsha àbu lum. This house c.OBJ too little temperature 'This house is too cold.' * Didn't you eat enough? Ti bilà kula mi no. Ti bilà kula mi no. Not enough eat PAST QUE 'Didn't you eat enough?' * Will you do it some time? Nou we ama no. Nou we ama no. Any c.TEM do QUE 'Will you do it some time?' =Doubling Words= In Awkaŋu there are two ways to express enlargement or an augmentative. One has been explained in the Feature Words Section. The other is even simpler, but is used less frequently. To really emphasize the huge size, extent or amount of something, one can simply use doubling of words. Repeating a word accomplishes emphasis. Note, that the effect of doubling words is way larger than that of using ba. Therefore use it with causion. Example: * Her friend eats tons of bread. Wen saw ata bu tam tam sa kula. Wen saw ata bu tam tam sa kula. She c.GEN friend c.ERG bread bread c.OBJ eat 'Her friend eats tons of bread.' =Pronouns= Apart from the personal pronouns, there are only four other pronouns in Awkaŋu. Two of them are demonstrative pronouns while the third is used to express uniqueness. The pronoun kana is interesting. It can be used in two ways. The first way corresponds to the english use of it or that in a sentence like "He showed me the picture and I liked it". So instead of repeating the word picture the pronoun kana would be used. This works only, if it is clear from the context wheather the subject or the object is referred to as kana. In a case in which this is unclear, the respective word or part of the sentence is marked by nuru beforehand. Examples: * He eats a bread and falls down. Nuru tou bu tam sa kula tsho kana bu lok. Nuru tou bu tam sa kula tsho kana bu lok. This one he c.ERG bread c.OBJ eat and it c.ERG fall 'He eats a bread and falls down.' * He eats a bread and it falls down. Tou bu nuru tam sa kula tsho kana bu lok. Tou bu nuru tam sa kula tsho kana bu lok. He c.ERG this one bread c.OBJ eat and it c.ERG fall 'He eats a bread and it falls down.' Kana can also be used to refer to a whole sentence. Again, context is important. =Relative Clauses= Even though relative clauses are treated as a case in Awkaŋu, their use is not always easy. The relative particle is ye. Some of these sentences are quite advanced. Don't bother understanding them completely before the other grammar points, because they make use of multiple grammar rules at once. Lou bu wim ja ye àlweal bu lomì sa tiwon. I c.ERG see c.VER c.REL master c.ERG pupil c.OBJ kill 'The master, that I see, kills the pupil.' Lomì sa tiwon mi ye àlweal bu tam sa kula. Pupil c.OBJ kill PAST c.REL master c.ERG bread c.OBJ eat 'The master, that killed the pupil, eats a bread.' Kìwe tiwon ye àlweal sa kula ja lomì bu. self kill c.REL master c.OBJ eat c.VER pupil c.ERG 'The master, that killed himself, is eaten by the pupil.' Tam sa kula ye àlweal bu tsho lomì sa kula. Bread c.OBJ eat c.REL master c.ERG and pupil c.OBJ eat 'The master, that eats a bread, eats the pupil as well.' =Opposites with "mu"= The particle mu can be used to turn any word into it's opposite. This applies to particles, too. Mu comes right before the word that is "inverted". There are no restrictions. Mu is abbreviated: OPP Examples: * To give and take. Nan tsho mu nan. Nan tsho mu nan. Give and OPP give 'To give and take.' * The cat is in the front of the tree. Shakai sa maku saw yabok tai. Shakai sa maku saw yabok tai. Cat c.OBJ tree c.GEN front c.LOC 'The cat is in the front of the tree.' * The cat is behind the tree. Shakai sa maku saw mu yabok tai. Shakai sa maku saw mu yabok tai. Cat c.OBJ tree c.GEN OPP front c.LOC 'The cat is behind the tree.' =Parallels with "Soo"= Soo can be used to express "the more the better"-kind of formulations. This shall be explained here. The formula is: soo soo. The two (or more) parts followed by the soo exist in a conditional relation. Soo can be translated as 'as much'. Example: * The more you laugh, the more beautiful you are. Ley bu bà na hoana soo ley sa bà maŋal soo. Ley bu bà na hoana soo ley sa bà maŋal soo. You c.ERG much c.QUAN laugh as much you c.OBJ much beautiful as much 'The more you laugh, the more beautiful you are.' =Expressing Possession= There are many basic kinds of possession. One is to own or to be responsible for something, the other is to have something at your disposal. Other uses include expressing affiliation or availability. The particle saw The particle saw is used to express both ownership and responsibility and affiliation. Example: * This is my friend. Kali sa lou saw ata. Kali sa lou saw ata. This c.OBJ I c.GEN friend 'This is my friend.' * She is responsible for that part of the garden. Lemba sa wen saw dshitàni saw ìu. Lemba sa wen saw dshitàni saw ìu. That c.OBJ she c.GEN garden c.GEN part 'She is responsible for that part of the garden.' Saying "I have" To express availability of something, the sociative particle bulu is used. It corresponds to the english "I have", though literally it means "to be with something". Example: * I have a nice family. (I'm with a nice family.) Lou sa maŋal ka madada bulu. Lou sa maŋal ka madada bulu. I c.OBJ nice c.QUAL family c.SOC 'I have a nice family.' * I have enough money(gold). (I'm with enough money.) Lou sa bilà nal bulu. Lou sa bilà nal bulu. I c.OBJ enough money c.SOC 'I have enough money.' =Dialogue= Tom: Hello! Anna: Hello. How are you? Tom: I'm fine, and you? Anna: Me too, tell me, where have you been? What have you been doing? Tom: Err, I was climbing mountains and then i went for a walk in the forest. Anna: Were you alone all the time? Tom: No! Not at all! There were many animals who allowed me to stay. I love animals. Anna: Wow! Will you do it again? Tom: Definitely. Do you want to come with me? We could go to the ocean, too. Anna: Yes, let's go together. Tom: Okay, I'm looking forward to it. Good bye. Anna: Yes, Good bye. Translation Tom: Elena la. Anna: Elena la. Nui kamta no. Tom: Maŋal kamta. Ley sa no. Anna: Tsho lou. Ley bu tuba mo ja nui tai mi. Nui ama mi no. Tom: Aa, lima sa lagùn mi tsho simyóu tai midewa mi. Anna: Bo we amun no. Tom: Si. Sàbo ìu. Ba waŋit emyu sa mi tsho mu ìa ja lou bu diebu. Emyu sa hiwo. Anna: Maŋal. Nane ama lia no. Tom: Alùt. Lou bulu midewa liwa no. Sawi lou bu tsho kuu enà midewa lia. Anna: Dio. Bulu etò midewa m. Tom: Maŋal. Bikàmi. Kana sa tadshìa. Elena mi. Anna: Dio. Elena mi. =Example Sentences= Case Mood Vocabulary Here is a vocabulary list with all the words that appear in the examples. =Text= Basawi ubeyo tsho neyma bu ambana mi ja nui nuru sa bà dshulo. Midewa may bu bà lum o bwi bulu dsha bawa mi we. Mesha bu mu ìa mi ja midewa may sawa o bwi sa samiku kaŋu asàl ye nuru sa bà dshulo. Tsho basawi ubeyo bu nay nam dshulo ka kupìgwa mi ee bà dshulo ka kupìgwa mi soo midewa may bu o bwi sa bà bambu ama soo. Tsho hitu we basawi ubeyo bu dshàlibu sa shwe mi. Tsho neyma bu bà lum ka ukiŋi ama mi tsho simaŋu etò midewa may bu o bwi sa samiku mi. Basawi obeyo bu dodshoma mi mo ja neyma sa bà dshulo mi. = Notes = Awkaŋu is basically already complete, but I didn't want to explain every grammar detail here or give all the words that exist. If someone is interested, I will clarify anything that is not clear. Any questions are welcome! --Seladwa 11:00, 16 March 2009 (UTC)Siah --Seladwa 20:44, 22 March 2009 (UTC)Siah --Seladwa 19:34, 25 March 2009 (UTC)Siah --Seladwa 22:17, 28 March 2009 (UTC)Siah Category:Languages